A Cousin's Intuition
by DanMat6288
Summary: One afternoon after one of the gang's nocturnal missions in Sector 5, Ulrich can't help but feel that his little cousin has been acting strange lately, and he fears something may be wrong.
1. Ricky's Strange Behavior

_Wow, not a lot of people have been reviewing lately. Only three for the last one? (sigh) And, where is Mewberries? Well... review responses to "Birthday Bash". OK, about when I promised a Halloween story next, I kind of lied. I remembered I had this story to post, and _then_ comes the Halloween special. (sheepish grin)_

_katfish xX - Why do the British have to be so mean to cancel _CL_ on you guys? Anyway, glad you liked the story._

_IAmTheBoss - XD Parodies are fun. And, I know no one can sue me! Well, Moonscope could if their lawyers get people to look past the fact that there's no profit involved in this and I submitted it as fanfic, which means I want people to know I don't own _Code Lyoko_, and... yeah..._

_Anime Blob - Thank you for your review, Blob of Anime._

_And... on to the story!_

**A Cousin's Intuition**

**Chapter 1: Ricky's Strange Behavior**

"Looks like it's hatching time," noted Ulrich Stern. He and the other two Lyoko warriors sat on their vehicles as Aelita sifted though the Carthage Celestial Dome interface. That's when he spotted two lumps forming on the dome's outer wall.

Odd Della Robbia also noticed this and said, "So, let's give these babies a good birthday fight," as he readied his arrow gloves and got into his takeoff stance on his Overboard.

After a mere few seconds, two flying Mantas had emerged into the dome, and the three friends took off.

"OK, guys, let's give them all we've got," said Yumi Ishiyama as she pulled out her metal fan.

_"Oh, that reminds me, Yumi,"_ they heard their boy genius friend say from the lab. _"I gave you a weapon upgrade."_

Yumi opened her fan and looked at it. "Nothing seems different about my weapon," she noted.

Jeremie Belpois grinned from Earth. _"Look in your pack again."_

Confused, she reached behind her back and pulled out, to her surprise, a second fan!

_"What do you think? Twice the fans for twice the monster slaying."_

Yumi smiled as she opened the second fan. "I think you rock, Einstein." With that, she threw both fans at one Manta. They sliced through its back diagonally, killing the monster.

However, this gave the second Manta time to sneak a shot from behind. Yumi stumbled a bit, nearly falling off her Overwing, but managed to regain balance.

"YUMI!" cried Ulrich when he saw the Manta on her tail. He flew his Overbike over to deflect the monster's blasts with his saber.

Finishing up her work, Aelita started closing up the interface. "OK, I think that's enough for tonight, Jeremie. I'm sending the data to you."

However, she didn't notice a squid-like creature behind her until it grabbed her with its tentacles.

* * *

Jeremie's eyes widened in anxiety when he saw the diagram of Aelita's memory pop up. "The Scipazoa is going after Aelita, guys! Get her out of there!"

* * *

Odd looked around and saw this happening at the interface port. But, as he took off for the beauty and the beast, the remaining Manta got in the way. 

"Hey, do you mind!?" he yelled at the monster. The few laser arrows he sent into its belly didn't provide enough damage to destroy it, however, and it returned fire. But, just was it was about to fire again...

"IMPACT!" Ulrich struck from behind. Odd saluted in gratitude before flying over to the Scipazoa and Aelita, scaring the brain-sucking squid away with a few well-sent arrows.

"Hop aboard, Princess," he said as she came to and climbed on the Overboard behind him.

_"I'm opening a bridge into the Forest Sector,"_ Jeremie told them. _"Get Aelita to a neutral tower there, and I can begin materializing all of you."_

* * *

Jeremie smiled as he watched his friends enter the lab after another successful routine mission on Lyoko. 

"Ah, another grand old time of fishing for data and Sector 5," said Odd. "Now we can get back to catch up on some sleep."

Ulrich yawned and stretched. "Yep. That sounds good."

Jeremie joined them in the elevator. "Aelita, you found quite a bit of interesting data tonight," he told the girl they'd dubbed Aelita Stones. "In fact, I might be able to use some of it on my quest to find your anti-virus."

Her eyes lit up with excitement as the elevator began it's ascend to ground level. "Really?"

"We'll see, now won't we?" They were now in the factory's Hall of Glass, and soon left the factory entirely.

Yumi turned and waved to her friends. "Well, I better get back home before my parents notice I'm gone. Later, guys."

As the four Kadic boarders made their way into the sewers, Odd said, "Sneak off to go to Lyoko, take the transport into Sector 5, kill some Creepers to get to the key, take the elevator to the interface, Aelita looks through it while we battle Mantas, Jeremie opens a bridge for us to get back to the surface of Lyoko, then we head back to the academy while Yumi races home. Everything's the way it should be."

* * *

"OK, this is _not_ the way it should be," moaned Odd next afternoon. It was 3:00 PM before they could have lunch. 

Ulrich picked up a tray and told him, "Hey, just be happy we didn't have to wait _four_ hours before the cafeteria was ready again."

Aelita followed the two boys. "Can you believe that an argument between Nicholas and Herve caused that large of a food fight this morning?"

Odd rolled his eyes as he piled up his tray. "Leave it to dweeby and dweebier to cause a mess like this."

"Just be happy the wait is over," said Ulrich as they sat down at a table.

Unpeeling her banana, Aelita asked the boys, "So, what did you think of today's history quiz on the western world colonization?"

Odd shrugged and replied, "All I can say is, I'll be lucky to get a D."

"Same here," said Ulrich. "Between soccer practice, X.A.N.A. attacks, and Sector 5 missions, I'm not left with much time to study."

Aelita gave them a reassuring smile and said, "Well, as soon as we find the data for my anti-virus, we can shut down the computer. That should leave you with plenty of study time. Oh, hi, Ricky," she added when she saw the little boy genius approach.

"Hiya, Aeleetie!" he replied. He looked at the three and asked, "You _still_ having lunch?"

"Cafeteria use was delayed 'cause of a food fight," his older cousin explained. "Don't ask."

He blinked a bit and yawned. "Oh, OK."

Ulrich raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Rick, you been getting enough sleep?"

"Huh?" he responded absently. "Oh, yeah. I've been working on... um, stuff." Looking at the food on the table, Ricky felt his stomach as it gave a demanding growl. "Uh, Odd... are you... going to eat that?"

But the walking stomach slid his tray away greedily. "Forget it! I've been waiting three hours to eat!"

The big cousin sighed. "Here, Ricky. You can have my croissant," he said handing it to him. The little cousin overeagerly grabbed the roll and began shoving it in his mouth. Ulrich raised his eyes warning him, "Easy, cuz. You're starting to eat like Odd."

"_HEY!_"

Ignoring his friend, Ulrich watched Ricky with a little concern and asked, "Are you...feeling OK?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said, though it sounded a little defensive. Seeing his older relative's unconvinced look, he glanced at Aelita, and then he whispered to him, "_Actually, I've been up late making progress on Aeleetie's anti-virus for Jerry._"

"_Really? And, have you been giving up meals to work on it, too?_"

"_Um... y-yes..._"

"_You sure you're--?_"

"I'MFINE!" This sudden burst startled Ulrich and his two friends. "Just... don't worry about me, OK, Cousin?" He glanced at the time on his cell. "Oh, I better get going. See you later!" he said, running off.

The older cousin watched the younger leave and asked, full of concern, "What's been wrong with him lately?"

Odd piped up. "You heard him, Ulrich. He hasn't had enough food and sleep because he's been working on... well," he risked a quick glance at Aelita, then winked at his best friend, finishing, "you-know-what."

"I don't that that's the case, Odd," he replied, shaking his head. "Did you see the way he got all snippy with me? It's a little out of character for him."

"Well, maybe he gets cranky when he doesn't get enough sleep," suggested the spiky blonde-haired boy. "And, you were probably getting on his nerves when you kept asking him if he was feeling OK."

Ulrich sighed and looked out the window towards the direction his little cousin ran off in. "I don't know. Call it a cousin's intuition, but I can't help but feel like something's seriously wrong."

_Well, there you have it. I had to fill in space with the Sector 5 scene, but it did include an important occation in Lyoko history. Now, do you agree with Ulrich that there's something "seriously wrong" with Ricky, and if you do, what do you think it is? Whoever gives me the correct answer before I put up chapter 2 gets a cookie. XD Goodnight, everybody!_


	2. The Problem

_And, still barely anybody out there. (sigh) And, only one guess._

_Odd: I'll guess! (whispers something in my ear)_

_Odd, you just read ahead so I'd give you the cookie._

_Odd: So? You said, anybody who gives you the correct answer before you post up Chapter 2 gets a cookie!_

_Fine... anyway, IAmTheBoss guessed a more obvious suggestion... katfish xX didn't have any guesses, but was kind enough to review... Well, here's the second chapter of the story for you._

**A Cousin's Intuition**

**Chapter 2: The Problem**

As Ricky walked into the Ishiyama residence, he found his best friend, Hiroki, in the middle of Level 9 of _Block Bashers II_, a video game he got for his birthday. Yeah, it's more exciting than it sounds. "Is there anything here I can eat? I think you remember, but I didn't have lunch... for the umpteenth time," he added in a slight mumble.

"Try the fridge," his preoccupied buddy said, just about into Level 10.

Ricky went over to the fridge and, upon opening it, managed to find some leftover salmon sushi. He shrugged and said to himself, "When in a Roman home, eat like the Romans do."

Pausing his game and looking up at him, Hiroki gave him a funny look. "We're Japanese, not Roman."

His friend set the leftovers on the table and found some chopsticks. "Rome, Japan, same general idea." Slightly struggling with the oriental utensils of a minute, Ricky fell silent for a moment, and then added, "I... I nearly spilled to my cousin about D. Nile."

"You're gonna have to tell someone about Dennis sooner or later," told Hiroki. "He's not gonna give you a break."

He sighed. "I know... but, you know, I like my face arranged just the way it is." After a pause, he inquired, "So, if you think someone should be told to deal with Dennis, why don't _you_ tell anybody?"

The Japanese-French boy raised his hands in defense. "Are you kidding? I like my face the way it is, too!"

* * *

That evening, after supper Odd sat down with his beloved dog, Kiwi, and fed him his meal. "That's it, boy. Chow down." He glanced over at Ulrich, who sat staring out the window. "Still worrying about Ricky, huh?" 

He sighed. "I know I'm probably starting to sound like a broken record, but I just can't help but feel like something's wrong," said the Lyoko samurai. "If anything bad happens to Ricky that I could've prevented, I don't know how I'd ever forgive myself."

Odd frowned and shook his head. "You put too much pressure on yourself over that kid."

"It's an older relative thing," he told him. "You'd understand if you had a little sibling or cousin."

Kitty boy laid back on his bed and replied, "Whatever you say, Ulrich. So, what are you going to do? Tell a teacher or something?"

"Are you kidding?" he asked. "They might go about it the wrong way. Remember when Ricky got suspicious of me and ended up telling Mrs. Davis, and I got hounded by a counselor? No, I'm going to see about taking matters into my own hands."

"Question is, how?"

Ulrich hadn't thought of that. Pondering all possibilities, he asked, "Don't we have the day off tomorrow?"

"Sure, it's an in-service day," his friend reminded him. "Why?"

* * *

The hallways of Pasteur Elementary was beginning to have less and less kids in it as they all filed into their classrooms for the start of the day. Ricky and Hiroki walked down one hall, the former walking with the sense of daily doom. 

Hiroki looked around. "I don't see Dennis anywhere. Maybe he's not--"

_"How's it going, Super Nerd?"_

Turning around, the two boys came face to face with an 11-year-old boy who got held back a few years.

"Uh, OK. I spoke too soon," said Hiroki awkwardly.

Feeling his legs soften a little, the boy genius stammered in faux politeness, "Oh, h-hey, D-Dennis."

"That's D. Nile to you, Super Nerd," shot Dennis. "Which is what you're to be when it comes to our little deals. That is..." he pounded a fist into the palm of his hand, "if you like your face the way it is."

"Of course I do," he responded nervously before handing him a small bag with his lunch. "Here. It's your favorite, bologna and Swiss."

Dennis (or D. Nile, as he prefers to be called) snatched up the bag, and then persisted, "And, the homework?"

Ricky nodded a little frantically. "Right, right. Of course." He pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to him saying, "Stayed up awhile to make sure it was perfectly in your handwriting. Also, I made sure it was a C grade to make it _somewhat_ believable."

The bully grabbed him by the shirt and look him in the eye. "You think you're so funny, dontcha, kid?"

"N-no, D-D. Nile! I-I didn't m-mean it like th-that," he stuttered fearfully. "I just..."

_"Hey, you with the kid in his hand."_ D. Nile looked around at a 13-year-old, brown haired boy who seemed to appear out of nowhere. "You got a problem with him?" the boy asked.

The bullied little boy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "_Cousin?_"

"Alright, you do you think you are?" the bully demanded.

"The name's Ulrich, and that's my little cousin you're holding."

D. Nile glanced at the shivering boy in his grasp and dropped it before facing Ulrich. "Yeah, what of it? Just a little rough-housing."

"I heard the whole thing," Ulrich shot. "You've been using Ricky; threatening him into giving up his lunch and time just to get you by. That's why he's been getting all defensive whenever I tried asking him why he's been so hungry and tired lately!"

"Yeah, well I'm gonna keep doing it, whether you like it or not."

Just then, a teacher named Mr. James Canal came up amongst the boys. "Not likely, Mr. Nile," he scolded. Grabbing him by the wrist, he began dragging him off to the office. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Nile. You know our school policy against bullying." He turned around and added, "Oh, and Ulrich Stern, we need a coffee refill in the teachers' lounge."

"I'll be on it in a minute," he replied.

Ricky stared up at his cousin. "You called in to be a junior school volunteer for today just so you could watch me to find out what was wrong?"

Find it a little awkward to have to answer yes to this, he mumbled, "Well, you know, I just..."

"I have just one thing to say to you." To Ulrich's surprise, he felt two arms wrap around his waist in a tight embrace. "I've got the best big cousin ever!"

Ulrich smiled and patted his little cousin on the head. "What I wouldn't do for you, cuz. So, what was the deal with that Nile kid?"

The other boy sighed, and explained, "Well, Dennis got held back a few times, and he got annoyed by how much I was a know-it-all. So, he decided to bully me into using my knowledge to his advantage. I was afraid he'd kill me if I told anybody... even you."

The older boy just held him close and made this promise: "I'll always be there to protect you when you need it."

Ricky smiled broadly at these words, but then remembered, "Oh, great! Dennis still has my lunch!"

"I'll get it, cuz." With that, Ulrich headed for the office.

Hiroki smiled at his friend. "Well? What did I tell you?"

Ricky laughed and said, "Besides that you like your face the way it is?"

His friend smiled embarrassedly and said, "Well, besides that."

**CODE  
END...**

_Ah, don't you just love happy endings? Well, none for Dennis, but he doesn't deserve one, anyway. So, anyone who guessed trouble with a bully at school gets a cookie! Which, that was nobody... (Odd raises his hand; sigh) except Odd._

_Odd: YAY! (greedily takes the cookie and scarfs it down)_

_By the way, that's a peanut butter cookie._

_Odd: PROTEIN! NOOO!!! (explodes)_

_XD Inside joke. You have to have been at the outtakes thread at the codelyoko dot com forum to understand. Well, 'till next time, everybody._


End file.
